Behind Desks
by Miss Pennyfeather
Summary: Percy Weasley gets a new assistant. She's annoying, energetic, clumsy and her name is Audrey.
1. Chapter 1

Audrey White knew that taking a job at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement meant hours upon hours of desk work and brutal requests from superiors. Not to mention she was a woman, which meant some big-nosed wizards would look down on her.

But Audrey wasn't about to give up. No, she was convinced that she had the inner strength to do it and she told herself so as she smiled goofily, standing in front of the elevator doors. Her bubbly attitude and tendency to see life in pink, not to mention her inability to be quiet for more than five minutes and her unorganized way of dealing with problems made everyone around her think that taking this kind of job was the most inadequate thing she could possibly do.

The elevator doors finally opened, revealing a young man inside with high-pitched glasses, dressed in an impeccable black suit, holding a large notebook in his hand.

She entered and the doors shut promptly leaving them in silence. Audrey peeked at the stranger next to her who was actually immersed in his work.

She looked at her feet and then rearranged the scarf around her neck and looked at her watch.

'It's my first day here,' she blurted out grinning to the man.

He looked up rather irritated and nodded absently.

'Are you new too? Not that you look new,' she immediately said. 'You probably must know the hang of things.'

'Excuse me, I'm trying to read,' he said in a clipped voice.

'Oh, sorry. I get chatty when I'm nervous. I mean I don't even know what I'll be doing exactly, who I'll be working with. I just know that I am a subordinate. How frustrating is that?' she blabbered playing with her scarf.

He sighed and pushed up his glasses.

'Yes, it must be quite an ordeal,' he commented.

'You said it. This morning I wasn't even going to come,' Audrey confessed chuckling. 'Oh, sorry, you want to read.'

Not before long though, she opened her mouth again.

'You know, the muggle elevators are much fun. They have all those confusing lights and play that bad music that no one ever listens to. You can even get stuck in them. Imagine how awkward that would be,' she said smiling.

'Yes, the pain would be unbearable,' he said flipping a page, obviously annoyed with her presence.

Finally, the elevator doors opened and they both got out, heading in the same direction, only Audrey had to stop at the reception desk and the man followed his way through the door.

'Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Wizengamot Administration Services. How can I help you?'

'Hi there, I'm here to see Mrs. Crawford for the assistant job.'

'Name?' the woman behind the desk asked bored.

'Audrey White.'

'Here's your pass. Stick to it. Otherwise you can't pass through those doors.'

Audrey felt very excited. Her first look on her future job.

She burst through the doors and…found herself in a white, empty, cold hallway and saw four cubicles around a large office.

A middle-aged lady stepped out of one of them and smiled at her pitifully.

'Hi, dear, you must be Audrey. Just in time. Come in, come in.'

Her cubicle was almost barren, all her things magically stored in tiny boxes. She looked exhausted and haggard.

'I finally followed my husband's advice and quit,' she said chuckling. 'Eh, but what am I saying? Welcome dear, I'm Mrs. Daisy Crawford.'

Audrey smiled reluctantly and hugged her.

'Hi, Mrs. Crawford, I'm so happy to be here.'

'Oh, well…that's something new,' she said raising an eyebrow. 'Most people coming in here are terrified.'

'Why should they be?'

'Well you know…the big one. Mr. Weasley.'

'Who?'

'Oh. You don't know him, that's right. He's your boss. Don't worry, you'll get to know him in a second,' she said apologetically.

'You sound as if it's a…bad thing.'

'Oh, no honey, you should be proud. Your CV was selected from hundreds of applicants. You're going to be great. You just…keep your head above water.'

Audrey felt slightly scared at this welcome but hey, it couldn't be that bad. Mr. Weasley. That meant he was one of the Weasley brothers and she had heard only great things about them.

The door to the office suddenly opened and the man from the elevator walked out and stopped in front of them.

'What's the noise here?'

'Oh, Mr. Weasley this is the new girl,' Mrs. Crawford told him.

'Oh, hey!' Audrey said recognizing him. 'What were the odds?'

Percy stared at her unfazed and checked something on a file.

'Why didn't I hold interviews?' he muttered and stepped back in the office.

Audrey frowned and sat down. 'That wasn't very polite.'

'Oh, you'll get used to him, honey, trust me. He just didn't have his coffee and muffin yet. Otherwise he's a sweetheart,' she said rolling her eyes. 'Well, I guess I'll be going now.'

'Wait – what about training me? Um telling me what my tasks are?'

'Mr. Weasley will get to that himself,' she said smiling pitifully again. 'Well, so long dearie. And good luck.'

With that Mrs. Crawford took her tiny boxes and slipped out of the room, almost too glad to get away. She didn't even say goodbye to her old boss. But it wasn't like he had said goodbye to her either. Audrey guessed he must be very professional and does not engage in any trifles with employees.

If that was the case, this place would be quite sad.

She breathed in and out and looked around. The cubicle was white and sad. Hmmm. She'd have to fix that. She took a small box out of her pocket and tapped her wand as it opened up and most of her stuff just burst out on the desk.

She took off her coat and scarf. She then put up the pictures with her best friends and dog on the small white walls and the desk. She had thought there would be a window where she could put her flower pot, but now she would just have to place it in a corner and activate a spell for sunlight.

There. Now that was quite pretty.

She was just about to put a red poster of the Harpies when her new boss popped up behind her.

'I hate to interrupt this complete waste of time, but I need you in my office right now.'

'Of course, Sir,' she said beaming.

She followed Mr. Weasley meekly and stepped into his spacious and elegantly furnished office. The style was sober and neat. She took a good look at him.

He…certainly wasn't what one could call handsome, but she had to admit he was attractive, with his clean-cut shave, short red hair and cynically raised eyebrow. He looked imposing and intransigent. The type that would not allow many things. Okay, so maybe she might in time develop a crush on him, but she had developed a crush on all her previous bosses.

'Wasn't it funny how we met in the elevator and then you turned out to be my boss?'

'Hilarious,' he replied icily. 'You may sit down.'

'I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Audrey,' she said extending her hand.

'Miss White,' he said looking down at a file. 'I didn't hire you for polite chit-chat. Sit down.'

She obeyed and looked at him expectantly.

'I specifically enlisted Mrs. Crawford's help in finding a new assistant. I hope she has not mistakenly sent me an incompetent fool. This means, Miss White that you must show you are skilled and efficient and can fulfill any of my demands. Should you fail, you will be transferred or subsequently fired.'

His blue eyes almost made her flinch, they had ice spears in them.

'I understand, Sir.'

'Your first task is to file all of today's write-ups and correct any mistaken ones. Report to me when you are done.'

'Oh…that's it?'

'Yes, you may go.'

'I thought we'd get to know each other more.'

'I'm sorry, I don't see any scented candles or hear violin music. We're not having dinner. Get to work Miss White.'

Okay. So maybe she wouldn't have a crush on him. This was her boss and he was _her _problem now.


	2. Chapter 2

The most important thing was to be punctual at work. Mr. Weasley would form a good opinion of her if she was coordinated and scheduled.

So she had gone up really early and bought coffee for everyone in the office, so she could have a friendly start.

She had also thought of dressing up nice but since she just had to watch those CSI episodes on TiVo in the morning in order to get her good mood on, she had to ignore that part. She just put on a long, green skirt and a red t-shirt and ruffled her shoulder-length blonde hair here and there.

When she arrived at the office she noticed it was just as she had left it the previous (first) day. The same bleak atmosphere and bad lighting. Not to mention an eerie silence so unlike what a work place should have. Her previous jobs had been pretty noisy. She used to work at a centre that hosted parties for children. She had also worked as a potion brewer in a pharmaceutical shop and had grown different magical plants for money but that hadn't worked so well, so she had tried finding a job as a dragon tamer. She took the necessary training classes, but when she was faced with the reality of it, she didn't last a month. Even when she got a spot as secretary at Saint Mungo, she eventually had to quit because her best friend, Alice, got involved with a doctor there.

She had worked everywhere and done so many odd and inexplicable things that her skills either amounted to everything or nothing. Her CV was impressively long for someone her age (26) but not exactly informative. She had been selected though and that was all that mattered.

But this new job; it just had to work. Otherwise she'd be caught again in a maelstrom of things she would never finish. This job was stable and serious and challenging. She had to start somewhere.

Four years ago, the war ended and she had been just as happy as everyone, jumping, laughing, hugging friends, celebrating the victory of light over darkness, but… after a while she had to get back down to Earth. And maybe find a settled place for her in the world. Though she was used to think the entire world was her personal playground.

She peeked in the cubicle next to hers. She saw a thirty-five year old looking woman that had a very exotic and at the same time stoic look.

She was wearing a heavy grey office suit and her pretty black hair was held up in an uncomfortable bun.

'Hi um, I'm Audrey. I'm new,' she said waving her hand.

The woman looked above her glasses and half-smiled, as she stopped her quill from writing.

'Hello, I'm Camilla Velasquez. Welcome…to a long day,' she said sympathetically. 'We have a lot of work to do.'

'Well, coffee can fix that,' she said handing her a cup smiling.

Camilla raised an eyebrow.

'Well, you're a lot nicer than Mrs. Crawford,' she said with a strong Spanish accent. 'She didn't even bother to ask my name, much less bring me coffee. Somehow being older than me guaranteed her superiority.'

'Not a very likeable old lady, I guess. But names tell everything about people. It's a waste not to know them.'

Camilla stared at her a bit confused.

'You must be the Wizengamot Legal Counselor,' Audrey said reading off a tag on the wall.

'Yes, I am. It can be a bit grueling but it's very rewarding. I wouldn't see myself doing anything else,' she said smiling a genuine smile. 'Coffee is excellent, thank you.'

'So I heard that the Wizengamot has three levels,' Audrey started counting on her fingers. 'The first is here with the high secretaries and judges, then the second with the lawyers and professors and the third is the residence of the Chief Warlock and court room.'

'Yes, I guess you have them rounded up well,' she answered.

'But I don't understand. Are we the only ones on the first level?'

'Only ones? You didn't look in the other cubicles, did you?' she said smirking.

Much to Audrey's surprise, while the other cubicles looked rather small and normal from outside, inside they stretched into long corridors full of offices where a dozen witches and wizards were already working.

'Oh my God… How will I ever get acquainted with everyone?'

'Oh, the goal is to ignore each other and work individually,' Camilla said sarcastically. 'It's a strange system here.'

'Oh brother…'

'Don't get too discouraged. You'll still get to meet Mr. Strayford and Mr. Dreyfus, high secretaries of judge Weasley. They're soon to become judges themselves. Mr. Weasley himself might become Chief Warlock in five years or so. Things move fast here.'

'Oh…I feel floored to be honest. Am I the only one here that doesn't hold a mighty position?'

'Well you have to deal with _him_ personally,' Camilla said gesturing towards the large office. 'That's enough, isn't it?'

'What do you mean?'

'Well…let's just say he's had nine assistants before and none has remained for more than six months.'

'Nine?!'

'Yes. And each of them was different. I believe he wanted to see who he could work better with. No one pleased him, however.'

Audrey's shoulders sagged most considerably. Knowing her, she'd be the tenth unqualified assistant. Now that Camilla had told her these things she wondered whether she had been hired just because he always wanted someone different.

What if her real qualifications hadn't been taken into consideration?

No. This is a long stretch. Mr. Weasley wouldn't do something so irresponsible.

Though, to be frank, she didn't really understand what this job entailed. She had studied the Law and English as main courses at Beauxbaton in France, but she doubted what exact knowledge was necessary here.

'I'd best go meet everyone,' she said saying goodbye to Camilla.

Audrey stepped into the spacious cubicle full of offices and looked around expectantly. Seeing as no one was moving or appearing to notice her, she coughed and spoke a notch higher.

'Erm, good morning everyone. Does anybody want coffee?' she said waving the mugs in the air.

Only three or four looked up but most of them continued working.

'Oh…I guess someone's grouchy in the morning. I'll just leave them here,' she said placing them on a table.

'You're new, I suppose?' someone asked and when she turned she saw a redhead pushing a trolley full of files.

'Don't try to get friendly with this crowd,' she advised and passed her before Audrey could reply.

Seeing as she had nothing to do there, she went back to her own cubicle to arrange her things.

Seeing as her boss was not yet in, she had the courage to step into his office to see if she could do anything. But the place was awfully dark! As if no possible sunshine could come in. And there was a lot of dust. And a bad smell of burnt paper.

'Hm. Well of course he's grumpy. He can't work in a place like this.'

She turned to the windows and pulled the dark red blinds, letting the rays flood the room. She opened one and let fresh air come in. She cleaned his desk and put all his files and documents in order. Then she dusted his chairs and paintings with her wand. On the floor, there was a very lousy, bad looking black carpet with many cigarette trails on it. Audrey polished it off and turned it blue.

Then she noticed he had no plants so she conjured many flowers on the sills.

There! Much better! It almost looked snug.

_Anyone would like working here_, she thought. _Mr. Weasley will like it._

'What in the world is going on here?' she heard him walking through the door, holding his hand to his eyes, blinded by the effusing light.

'Oh, good morning, Sir. I hope you're feeling well. I took the liberty of cleaning up your office. Doesn't it look much neater this way?'

He closed his eyes and breathed in annoyed. His tall figure advancing towards her made her shrink in her shoes.

'Miss White, whoever gave you the permission to do this?' he asked sternly. 'I do not need any nonsensical changes done to my office and certainly not by you.'

Audrey felt a little bit hurt by this speech but she didn't want him to think she did not understand so she nodded and tried apologizing.

'I just thought it would be a better place to work in. I mean too much crammed paper-work and all that bad lighting could very well affect your health. I know my grandmother lived in a kitchen full of pots and turned crazy. It can happen to the best of us. But I think it's not that bad, but I do apologize if I have trespassed on your intimacy and I am ready to make up for it…'

'Enough,' he said massaging his temples. 'God, you do talk a lot. Just go for now, I will deal with this.'

She started walking towards the door and then she remembered. 'I brought coffee.'

'Not my concern, Miss White,' he said sitting down. 'I don't ever drink coffee.'

'Oh, why not? How would anyone so busy like you ever survive?'

'Yes, I question myself that daily,' he said shutting up the blinds half-way. 'Is there a particular reason why you decided to turn my carpet blue?'

'Well, it didn't look very new or clean and it certainly made the room morose and blue really lights it up. And I really don't agree with smoking, it's very time-consuming.'

'Speaking of time-consuming things,' he said making the flowers dissolve, 'you have already wasted ten minutes on rearranging my already perfectly comfortable office therefore you shall stay overtime. An hour.'

Audrey almost gasped in surprise.

'An hour?'

'Yes. That should do. And if this ever repeats itself you shall get two. Oh and before you go home you will also have to rearrange my documents in the exact order they were before you changed them. I want _my _order back,' he said not looking at her.

'Now, take these reports, check them thoroughly, add the notifications necessary and give them to Mr. Dreyfus. Then you must assist him with the audiences in court and take notes from his junior attorneys, so you can write me a full summary on their latest cases. Then you shall call at the Auror Headquarters and tell Mr. Finnigan that – are you writing this? Or will I have to repeat it to you every time we meet?'

Audrey blushed embarrassed and took out a small agenda and jotted everything down. She was given numerous tasks, all which she had to finish in a day's work. She wasn't sure if she could finish in a month.

Obviously, she had been quite silly to try and do something too nice.

But this would not dampen her spirits, she told herself. It wasn't bad at all. She was an energetic, active person. She would manage perfectly.

Audrey started work immediately.

* * *

By five o' clock in the afternoon she was half-dead with exhaustion. She could barely walk and had had almost no time to eat. She was currently eating some unhealthy, oily snacks while trying to write some summaries. But she couldn't concentrate. She was wrong to assume the offices wouldn't be noisy.

Paradoxically in the morning and early afternoon they were quiet but in the evening it was a continuous racket.

'Miss White,' her boss called sharply. She jumped out of her seat and rushed to him.

'Yes, Sir?'

'These reports you've given me… you added far too much useless information in them. I supposed you knew how to do these things. Redo them. Are the summaries ready?'

'Not yet, Sir…'

'I leave at six and I expect them to be ready until then.'

Audrey almost felt envious, seeing him sitting there, calm and groomed, not a speck of dust on him, his sharp black suit impeccable, his hair perfectly combed. He was the embodiment of a successful career man, or at least he looked the part.

Audrey tried very hard to finish them until six but it was physically impossible and when Percy strolled into her cubicle dressed to leave she was still scribbling and making calculations and checking legal chapters.

'Miss White.'

'Yes, oh, Sir… I, I am not quite done.'

'At this point, Miss White, any employer would fire you, because you are slowing down the entire process of work…' he said looking down at her.

'I've corrected the reports and I'm almost done. Can't I owl them to you?'

He looked downright frustrated.

'Such documents can't be owled. And even after I revise them, they need to be sent to Dreyfus.'

'I'll do that, Sir…'

'I am not staying over hours. If you do finish them, send them directly to Dreyfus using the Floo service.'

'I could come…to your apartment and give them to you to revise and then give them to Mr. Dreyfus,' she said shyly. 'I would wait outside of course.'

Percy raised an eyebrow.

'A bold and impertinent move, Miss White. But stick to my stipulations,' he said and withdrew.

'Oh and do not forget, you need to rearrange my documents,' he said before going out the door.

Audrey sank her head on her desk.

When she passed the enormous cubicle again she saw the coffee she had brought was still there, untouched.

* * *

When she finally made it home it was close to midnight. Her feet were sore and her eyes groggy. Alice, her roomy, was already asleep and she didn't bother to wake her. She barely managed to brush her teeth before falling on the bed, dead asleep.

* * *

The very next morning, she woke up at half past eight. Her alarm had not gone off for some reason. She felt desperate.

'Aaah, so very late…' she mumbled as she quickly washed herself. She slipped twice in the bathroom and almost broke her neck. She remembered last night she hadn't set her alarm. Bonkers!

She stuffed her belongings in a small bag and ran out of the house, in dismal weather. She hadn't really looked at what she had put on before throwing her coat on her so now that she was finally at the office she discovered with horror that she was wearing a yellow top, red skirt and black boots.

_Good God!_ she screamed internally as she ducked into her cubicle.

'Late night, eh?' Camilla asked as she passed her.

'Good morning…well no, my alarm, it didn't work,' she excused herself.

'Oh, don't tell me that, tell him,' she said pointing at the large office. 'He's not in a good mood. Good luck…oh and interesting outfit.'

Audrey swallowed hard and made herself get up. She dreaded to see him. He'd probably shout at her and ban her from the Ministry, or something as horrific as that.

Much to he surprise, when she knocked he simply let her in and did not breathe out a word about her tardiness.

'Your tasks are on the small table there,' he pointed and she saw a large stack of files and letters.

'Thank you, Sir,' she said gratefully and carefully picked up her stack.

He raised his eyes and frowned.

'Do you have a mirror in your house? Apparently not.'

She blushed embarrassed and tried not to look at him.

'My brother, Ronald is expected at eight, this evening after his rounds. He needs some assistance with legal issues in the Auror department. You shall be there.'

'Eight? But, I thought…'

'You would not forget to stay three hours overtime for your tardiness, would you?' he asked expectantly.

'No, Sir…'

It would be a long week.


End file.
